his time in office, his troubled marriage with maria shriver, and his history of lying. packed show ahead. we're going to be talking with schwarzenegger's former press secretary margita thompson. colorado shooting victim stephen barton, brad woodhouse is the communications director for the democratic national committee and republican congressman ted poe of the state of texas joins us this morning. monday, october 1st. "starting point" begins right now. good morning, welcome everybody. our starting point this morning, crunch time in the race for the white house. just two days remain before president obama and mitt romney square off in denver for the first of three critical debates. president's being prepped in nevada today. and the gop challenger has some ground to make up because a brand-new "washington post"/abc news poll this morning has the president leading by two percentage points among likely voters. it's not unusual for candidates

to try to lower expectations in the days leading up to dedebate. republicans have been playing up the president's eloquence, ever since last week. but it seems somebody forgot to tell new jersey governor chris christie, because he was setting the bar high for mr. romney. listen. >> he's going to come in wednesday night, lay out his vision for america, he's going to contrast what his view is with what the president's record is, the president's view for the future and this whole race is going to be turned upside down come thursday morning. >> upside down is what he says. in just a few minutes we're going to be talking about wednesday night's debate and the president's preparations with brad woodhouse, communications director for the democratic national committee. first some of the other stories making news in d.c. getting ready for wednesday's debate coverage is john berman. hey, john, good morning. >> we're doing debate prep just like the candidates here in washington. start overseas, soledad. the taliban taking responsibility for an attack in eastern afghanistan that killed at least 14 people. civilians, police, and three nato soldiers. officials say the suicide bomber

targeted a joint patrol using a motorcycle packed with explosives. this attack comes a day after a firefight left two americans dead, including the 2,000th u.s. military member to be killed in afghanistan. syria's foreign minister takes center stage on the final day of the u.n. general assembly session. he will address the delegates latest this morning and defend the assad regime's handling of the 18-month crisis that has spiraled into a civil war. syria has been a prime focus for world leaders at the united nations over the past week. we are expecting an announcement today in that mystery surrounding the location of jimmy hoffa's remains. investigators are waiting for tests on mud and clay samples from a home in suburban detroit. they searched under a shed there on friday. a tipster, you will remember, claimed he saw what appeared to be a body being buried at the site the day after the former teamster's chief disappeared back in 1975. sports, sunday night football the super bowl champion new york giants falling to the

philadelphia eagles 19-17 in a clash of nfc east powers. a 54-yard field goal attempt in the closing seconds by new york's lawrence tynes falling a yard short. the atlanta falcons still perfect at 4-0. matt bryant's 40-yard field goal with five seconds left giving atlanta a dramatic 30-28 comeback win over cam newton and the carolina panthers. and oh, my goodness, after green bay had taken a 28-27 fourth quarter lead against new orleans, a blown call by the real refs! it almost cost green bay the game. they missed that fumble on the kickoff right there. green bay had no challenges. they couldn't have it reviewed. the saints took it while they went on to try a potential game-winning field goal. but they missed. so thankfully the packers survived. they were not robbed of another loss there. but the biggest, saddest, worst sports news. the collapse for the ages by the u.s. team at the 39th ryder cup. this was aufrl. the europeans roaring bang from

a 10-4 deficit late saturday to take a tuning 14 1/2 to 13 1/2 point win. germany's martin kaymer sank a putt on the final hole to seal the victory. honestly it was all lost well before that. europe has won the seven out of the last nine ryder cups. and soledad i don't know if you had a chance to watch this debacle. a debacle embarrassing. >> yes, it was killing my poor husband. all right, john, thank you. back to our top story this morning. two days until the first presidential debate. both candidates are getting last-minute preparations. "the new york times" reporting that mitt romney is coming armed on wednesday night, writing this, mr. romney's team has concluded the debates are about creating moments and has equipped him with a series of zingers that he's memorized and habeen practicing on airds since august. president obama responded to that report last night with this. >> i know folks in the media are speculating already on who's going to have the best zingers. i don't know about that.

who's going to put the most points on the board. governor romney, he's a good debater. i'm just okay. but, what i'm most concerned about is having a serious skugsz. >> let's get to brad woodhouse, the communications director of the democratic national committee. it's nice to see you again. thank you for talking with us. >> thank you, good morning. >> good morning to you. let's talk about strategy. if, in fact, that is correct, and that governor romney is going to, and has been practicing zingers to sort of throw in to the debate in order to have moments, which, you know, i think that that is what the media grabs onto. a moment in the presidential debate, what is the strategy for the dems if that's the case? >> well, look, i think for the president it's to ignore those. i mean, you know, the president doesn't think the debate should be about zingers or trying to put points on the board, as he said. it's about having a discussion

with the american people. so you know, i think mitt romney will be disappointed if he thinks he's going to debate the president into some contest who has the hottest rhetoric or the zing percent. i mean the president's going to talk with the american people. unfortunately, you know, this is not a sound bite president. so it's kind of a challenge for him to do this, in a minute or 90 second responses. but, you know, that's what he's going to do. he's going to talk the american people in their couches and their living rooms, and you know, governor romney will be there. that's not going to be the president's primary concern. >> but as you know, some interesting moments, and things people talk about, literally, decades later, after debates, is you know, maybe they're not necessarily zingers, but they're moments. i'm going to play a couple for you. >> sure. >> from past debates. listen. >> there you go again. i want you to know that also, i will not make age an issue of this campaign. i am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience.

>> senator, i served with jack kennedy. i knew jack kennedy. jack kennedy was a friend of mine. senator, you're no jack kennedy. >> in both of those instances, the blow was fatal. and maybe it didn't show up in the polling right away, but people had this sense that what had happened in that moment was a metaphor for who was the better fighter in the debate. and that could be problematic, couldn't it? >> well, it absolutely could be. i mean there are other moments in debates, too. i'm sure you remember from the primary mitt romney's famous $10,000 bet. >> right. >> so there are many opportunities for practiced, you know, zingers and one-liners, as there are opportunities, you know, to make mistakes. i think the best thing a candidate can do, and i haven't been to a debate president so i'm not advising him but the best thing a can't can do is go in and try to tell a story, a narrative about what they want to do. it's hard to tell a narrative in

one-second sound bites but you really want to talk with the american people so they string all of these one minute, and 90 second responses together into what you want to do for the country, where you want to take it. there are moments that are famous for, you know, for zingers like that. i mean, i do remember lloyd bentsen didn't get elected vice president, know, though it was a famous one-liner. >> hmm. that's, that's very true. and that's going to bring me to my next question which is out of this op-ed by e.j. die onand he writes one of the short comings of the contemporary media environment is while debates are supposed to be occasions where candidates thrash out matters of consequence thoughtfully and in detail the outcomes are often judged by snippets that are more about personal character than issues or problems. and i'm curious to know is it just that we talk about the moments, write about the moments, rerun the moments, but that people 40 are actually watching the debate trying to figure out who to vote for the moments don't resonate with them? >> i actually don't agree with that. i do think there are -- look, there are times where we

genuflect over something that happens in a debate or on the campaign trail that might not matter a lot. but look, like for example in the primary you won't be surprised to hear me say this, i thought the $10,000 bet moment spoke to who mitt romney is. it spoke to what his, you know, what his life is like. it spoke to, you know, a lot of things about mitt romney. how out of touch he is. so i think -- and people really focused on that for a week after that debate. so i think there are moments like that that the media will focus on that are really important as to the character of a, you know, the candidate. but more broadly speaking, i think in this debate, we have two -- we now have two parties as opposed to the republican primary, that the candidates of which need to talk about the specific plans they have for the country. mitt romney is yet to be specific about his plans, his tax plans, his plans for entitlements. and so this is an opportunity for him to be specific. >> i was sort of surprised that governor, new jersey governor chris christie apparently didn't

get the memo about downplaying expectations. i know the democrats are doing it furiously. the president himself doing it furiously. >> right. >> the republicans have been doing it furiously. here's what chris christie said over the weekend. >> well, listen, he's had a tough couple of weeks, let's be honest. i mean i'm not going to sit here and come on this morning and sugarcoat the last couple of weeks. they've been tough. but here's the great news for republicans. we have a candidate who is going to do extraordinarily well on wednesday night. he's going to contrast what his view is, and what the president's record is. the president's view for the future. and this whole race is going to be turned upside down come thursday morning. wednesday night's the restart of this campaign. i think you're going to see those numbers start to move right back in the other direction. so i have absolute confidence that when we get to thursday morning, george, you're all going to be shaking your heads saying it's a brand-new race. >> so, responding to that the president said governor romney's a good debater. i'm just okay. >> right. >> he was sort of going the other direction. you heard chris christie say it's going to go extraordinarily well. it's going to be turned upside

down. it's a restart of the campaign. it's a brand-new race. those are all quotes from that clipate there. is that risky for him to do that? >> look i think he set the bar high for mitt romney. and the bar should be high for mitt romney. i mean he's gone through this campaign. we're five weeks out, soledad, and he has not said how he'd pay for his tax plan. we're five weeks out he hasn't said how he'll shore up medicare or social security to protect benefits instead of cutting them. so the bar is really high for him. i think chris christie set it even a little higher. let's be clear, mitt romney is a terrific debater. i mean, he des patched newt gingrich from the race in florida based on debate performances there. did the same -- >> and the president is also a good debater in spite of his pleas that he's just okay. i don't think anybody believes that. brad woodhouse. >> he's all right. >> again, again, the expectations game. it just never ends. it's going to be a long five weeks. brad woodhouse. nice to see you. >> nice to see you. you can watch complete coverage of the first

presidential debate this wednesday night. it starts at 7:00 p.m. eastern right here on cnn. and on cnn.com. still ahead this morning on "starting point," a stunning interview. arnold schwarzenegger talking candidly about his affair with his house keeper and other indiscretions as well. also, did he even ask his estranged wife maria shriver to preview the memoir? we're going to talk to his press secretary, his former press secretary up next. and today's get real, tell you why a teacher cut a 7-year-old student's hair four inches, at least, without even bothering to run it by her mom! we're watching "starting point." jack, you're a little boring.

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and the candidate's speech is in pieces all over the district. the writer's desktop and the coordinator's phone are working on a joke with local color. the secure cloud just received a revised intro from the strategist's tablet. and while i make my way into the venue, the candidate will be rehearsing off of his phone. [ candidate ] and thanks to every young face i see out there. [ woman ] his phone is one of his biggest supporters. [ female announcer ] with cisco at the center... working together has never worked so well. welcome back to "starting point" i'm cries teen romans minding your business. a big week for your money. federal reserve chairman ben bernanke speaks today. the critical september jobs report is friday. and there's plenty of news in between like auto sales, jobless claims and a presidential debate. u.s. stock futures signal a higher start to a brand-new quarter that begins today. individual investors may have

missed this strong quarter for stocks. retail investors have been pulling money out of stocks for months. but stocks have been rising. the dow, the s&p 500, the nasdaq, all posted strong gains over the past three months. the nasdaq is up nearly 18% for the year now. more signs of weakness in the global economy. new data overnight from china show its factory sector slowed last month, and a report from hsbc says new export orders declined last month with the sharpest rate in 3 1/2 years. soledad, china has fashioned itself into the factory for the world. when china's manufacturing slows, everyone worries. >> all right, christine, thank you for the upset. it's what everybody's talking about this morning, arnold schwarzenegger says that his life were a movie, nobody would believe it. from body builder to movie star to governor of california, his new book is called "total recall." it's out today and it details his entire life, including the now infamous affair with his house keeper that led to the breakup of his marriage with maria shriver. schwarzenegger talked about that

affair in an interview with "60 minutes." >> i think it was the stupidest thing i've done in the whole relationship. it was terrible. i inflicted tremendous pain on maria and unbelievable pain on the kids. >> margita thompson was a press secretary forren or old schwarzenegger during his first term as governor. nice to see you. thank you for talking with us. i thought it was -- what did you think of the interview? let me ask that first. >> well, i think it was an interesting interview. it's definitely going to generate sales for the book. he is a fascinating person. he is someone who has a penchant for having a big personality. and he's also someone that shows that he's human and he's flawed. and so, with that greatness comes a fatal flaw, and it was interesting to watch last night. >> i thought what was interesting, as well, margita, was it seemed like he had these two paths. on one hand a guy who said i'm going to be famous and became famous. who said i'm going to be wealthy, and made himself, you

know, become wealthy in his 0.0020 in real estate surprisingly. on the other hand, a guy who, who hides stuff, big things, and, and, and lies. how do you, and when you worked for him, or did you ever see him sort of those both sides of him? >> well, you could see how he's a man of contradictions. he is definitely someone that when the people of california elected him, they weren't going to be getting a conventional politician. they were getting someone who was going to be breaking the rules, and that was exciting for people. it meant that by breaking the rules you were going to get other people to behave differently and reaction to that. and so that's some of the groundbreaking things that helped him accomplish an amazing life, and helped him really accomplish a lot of good policy as governor of california. >> of course breaking the rules when you're talking about bringing different people to the table because you're a first-term governor is one thing. breaking the rules when you're talking about your personal life is something else. let me play a clip from leslie stall's interview with arnold schwarzenegger where he

literally says that he kind of sprung the idea of even running for governor upon maria shriver. that she had no idea. listen. >> she had no idea that this was something she would not want to get back into? >> no. as a matter of fact, i was thinking that she would say, wow. that is amazing. welcome to the club. you finally convinced to be a public servant, just like my entire family. none of that. all of a sudden it came to a grinding halt, and i had to now deal with the drama. >> the book details and the interview, too, details a pattern of that, sort of creating this drama and saying now i have to deal with this drama. the drama is because you didn't mention it. >> well, it's -- he likes creating drama. i think it's one of the things he's trying to do to generate sales for the book. and, it's just -- it's the nature of who he is. he is someone who has a penchant

and flair for the big, the dramatic, and sometimes that's good, and sometimes that's less ideal. >> leslie stahl asked about the affair with the housekeeper that went on to bring about the birth of a child. he has a little boy now with this, this housekeeper. and you know, maria shriver had defended arnold warz schwartz against allegations of groping. she gave up her career as a journalist. i think a lot of people felt that it was just a betrayal, this affair, on every level to her, when that became public. so i guess i have to ask you about his personal character, because there are many people who just think that, that that's the definition of a horrible human being. >> well, i think -- he said he was sorry. he knows it's a tragedy. and he -- he has said that it was a big mistake. that's one of the things that sets him apart from i think a traditional elected official. is that he's willing to say that he's sorry and that he made a mistake. i think that it's very sad, and it's one of those things that speaks to how connected people

feel to both the governor and to maria is that they feel that emotion, and they feel that sadness with them. and, it's just -- it's really tragic. >> let me play a clip that was not in the interview on "60 minutes" on tv but they have it on the website. it's online. he's talking about same-sex marriage, of a marriage that he performed of a former staffer. >> did you go to the wedding? >> i performed the wedding in the office. >> you married -- >> i married her in the office in the governor's office. >> then you must be for gay marriage? >> i don't have to be for gay marriage. i'm for that she gets the kind of wedding and the kind of ceremony that i had when i was married to maria. that she happens to love a woman, and i , as a guy that loves a woman, that is two different things. it doesn't make any difference. she should still have her ceremony. >> so he performed a gay

marriage, in the office of the governor, at a time when he was outwardly maintaining that he's against gay marriage. isn't that someone who is a hypocrite? >> well, anyone who thinks that arnold schwarzenegger isn't an open-minded person is someone who hasn't been around. people knew who they elected when they elected governor schwarzenegger. and he wasn't elected on a social agenda. he was elected on a recall election on trying to turn the state's economics around. >> i realize that. >> that's what he really focused on. >> but, but, but i guess i'm saying that he was saying outwardly that he did not support gay marriage at the exact same time when he was performing a gay wedding in his office. >> well, i have to admit, i haven't read the book. so that's one of the surprises that there was even for me. i don't know what the timing was of when that ceremony was performed. but again, i just really think that the core of the person is that he's an open-minded person and no one should be surprised by that. >> are you going to run out and

buy this book or do you feel like you lived enough of it? >> oh, no, i'm absolutely going to buy it. he's had a fascinating life. i think it's unfortunate that in the interview they didn't talk the about the fact that he still is going to have a public life. he just launched the schwarzenegger institute at usc. he's been -- he's doing movies and he really is going to have a public life that i think is going to continue to impact us in the years to come. >> margita thompson, it will certainly be interesting to watch. thank you for being with us this morning. >> you bet. >> coming up the baltimore orioles team playing catches fire goes in for an emergency landing. we're going to tell you what went wrong and our get real this morning an outraged mother claims that a teacher cut the hair off her daughters, at least four inches, without even asking permission. our starting point team is heading in to talk about all of that, richard socarides is with us, ron brownstein and kelly ann conway. citracal slow release continuously releases calcium plus d with efficient absorption in one daily dose.

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welcome back to "starting point," everyone. a look now at some top stories. a plane taking the baltimore orioles to florida made an emergency landing in jacksonville because of a smoke condition on the aircraft. the aircraft was inspected and the team resumed their flight. by the way the orioles clinched their first playoff berth since 1997. reports that two loaded guns recently got past airport screeners and onto two flights. in one case a new orleans vice president for the basketball team look a loaded00 gun on board his checked baggage undete undetected. in the other case a woman brought a firearm onto the plane in her purse. so finding a cure for miners will soon be against the law in california. the state is the first in the nation to ban so-called gay

conversion therapies targeting children and teenagers. this law takes effect in january. >> thank you for the update. our team, richard socarides sitting right next to me so i can stop him when i need to. he's worked with the new yorker dotcom, he writes for them, former senior adviser to president clinton. ron brownstein at the other side of the table, editorial director of national journal and kellyanne conway is the president of the polling company women trend. nice to have you with us. our get real this morning. this one is so disturbing to me. 7-year-old girl gets food stuck in her hair. you have a 7-year-old so you know this age well. the assistant teacher decides to remove the food from her hair. how does she do it? by cutting the girl's hair off. apparently removed, well the mother believes, the mother's name is jessica sturwalt in north carolina. she says it was seven or eight inches of hair that they cut off this little girl.

the teacher sent a note saying she had cut about four inches. which would still be a ton of hair to chop off a little kid. of course none of it was done by asking permission of the parents. the mom says her daughter came home, little girl has down's syndrome, the daughter came home and was confused about the haircutting was punishment of some kind. would not look at herself in the mirror now and some conflicting stories. the teacher first said oh, no i cut off the hair four inches because there was food stuck in it. and then said in a letter that she sent home she actually trimmed it because the little girl wouldn't stop taking her hair down. when i read that i thought that sounds a little vindictive. won't stop playing with her hair. who cuts even an inch of hair off when there's food in it? >> nobody who wants to be a friend of a 7-year-old actually dares to cut their hair. but this is really outrageous. not just to me as a mother but also just, me as somebody who believes, why in the schools do we -- we can't hug them. we can't pray with them. we can't give them aspirin. we can't -- there are so many

reasons to call parents and get permission and yet this woman took it upon herself, you can invite the parent and say, do you want to come down and take it out. >> it's not like a tarantula and an immediate decision needs to be done right away. >> i don't know why they take their outrage out on these precious little children. the other thing is that in this case, with the down's syndrome child, he's not only going to be confused but maybe traumatized. she thinks that she was punished for eating. so it's very sad. i think people should feel outrage. >> i feel a lawsuit coming. really? don't you think? >> well, it's kind of an outrageous thing to do. >> that poor little girl. anyway we move on. still ahead this morning on "starting point," no time to explain paul ryan asks for specifics about how mitt romney's tax plan would work and his answer had a lot of eyebrows raising this morning. going to talk about that. also a "starting point" exclusive. he was shot in the face during that aurora movie theater massacre. now stephen barton is going to join us with his new strategy. yeah.

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welcome back, everybody. you're watching "starting point" exclusive this morning. the group that was started by new york city mayor michael bloomberg, mayors against illegal guns, is releasing a new tv ad today and they're hoping to make a statement ahead of this week's presidential debate. the debate is in denver, not far from the aurora movie theater. where 12 people were shot and killed and 58 others injured in july. the ad features a victim of the shooting, stephen barton. >> this past summer in a movie theater in colorado i was shot. shot in the face and neck. but i was lucky. in the next four years, 4,000 americans won't be so lucky. because they'll be murdered with guns in the next president's term. enough to fill over 200

theaters. so when you watch the presidential debates, ask yourself, who has a plan to stop gun violence? let' demand a plan. >> stephen joins us this morning. it's nice to have you with us. thanks for being here. >> thanks for having me. >> first let's talk about your recovery. i can see the scars on your neck which actually look quite good. >> yeah. i mean, other than some nerve damage everything's going really well. >> your recovery'been pretty good. >> yeah. >> great. what do you remember of that night? i mean, you were -- you were from connecticut, right? so you just happened to be in aurora. >> yeah. my friend and i had been bicycling across country and we were staying the night there, and about 15 minutes into the movie, everything changed. i just remember the flash of the gun. didn't really even see the shooter and just running to the exit. >> you were able to get to a hospital, get medical care, and now you put off going on to the fulbright to do some work and research in russia. i know you postponed that. so you could focus on this new

campaign. what's, what's the goal behind this campaign. >> well, basically, you know, we're just disappointed that governor romney and president obama haven't addressed gun violence in a concrete, specific way. and so basically we're demanding a plan from both of them. in advance of a presidential election, and presidential debate in denver, and asking that they put forth something specific, aside from just platitudes and moments of silence, and actually get down to the business of preventing that violence. >> how likely do you think it is, i mean ron has covered more -- more presidential debates than the rest of us. >> you know, this issue i think has been shelved by a myth. and the myth is since al gore lost in 2000 that gun control is overwhelmingly been rejected by the country. in fact the country is very closely divided. almost exactly in half. support has diminished since bill clinton was in august and was making the case for it. you contrast columbine when there was enormous white house focus and national conversation after those shootings to what happened here where there is the

silence. democrats in particular have been intimidated on this issue by a misconception that there is an overwhelming majority against it. the country is closely divided. but the half of the country voting for democrats, they are still interested in gun control and there could be a different discussion than we're having. >> so i remember after the shooting many people had this conversation about, it's too early to talk about, you know, gun control, you're politicizing what has been a horrible tragedy. i'll play a, a, i think we have, it must have been a radio interview with colorado governor and he said do we need stricter laws, we should wait until we bury those who we have lost. do you think that's true? as a victim i think your voice would be the most powerful in that debate. >> right, of course. you know, we -- i really think it's too late to talk about gun control, you know, in the aftermath of a tragedy like this. it means that our policies have failed and so, to say that it's politics. i mean for me, it's personal.

>> can i ask, so, does -- is there a specific plan that you all are for, or what do you think? i mean if someone asks you, you know, i'm asking you now, what are the top two or three things that we need to do? what do you tell people? >> the top priority right now is having universal background checks. and 40% of gun sales are private, which means under federal law, they're not subject to a background check. and so, i mean, mayors against illegal guns have spoke to law enforcement and all sorts of players in the game and they say the easiest way to start decreasing that number, 34 americans killed every single day by guns, is to require background checks. prior to a gun sale. >> do the candidates, do governor romney or president obama support universal background checks? >> if they do i haven't heard. >> well they may not be talking about it. >> well, it's interesting -- it's not really front and center in this debate. we talk about foreign policy of late. we've certainly been talking about the economy. so are you saying, do you believe that that's an intentional squelching of it?

obviously you could -- >> oh, yes. absolutely the president flew out to aurora as we expect a president to do, offer his condolences, met with the victims and their families and it's great to meet you, and god bless you. but he really there, and when congressman giffords was shot, gun control. part of that is not just based on what ron says, but it's also based on pure politics. the senate democrats have to defend important seats like montana, and manchin in west virginia, big -- >> politics have always been, this has been a regional issue as well as partisan issue historically. the votes that democrats lost on gun control in red states like that were offset by republicans from more blue constituencies who felt the need to vote for gun control. now you have a situation in which republicans uniformly oppose gun control. democrats split regionally and no president has really been willing to advance the argument. >> it has become the third rail. right? you certainly don't want to

bring it up because all it can do it sounds like is, is hurt you if you're a candidate at this point. i'll give you the final word this morning. are you expecting that they're going to say something in the debate? what are you, what are you hoping to get out of this, this, you doing the media tour and also sort of the, the ad that's running? >> well, like the name of the campaign suggests. demand a plan. aside from just having a mention of it in the debates, we hope that it actually becomes a relevant issue in this election. that despite the fact that they're politics, sensitive politics involved, that both candidates address the issue in a specific way. >> stephen barton, we're out of time but i thank you for joining us. >> thank you. >> we're glad to see you're recovering so well. good luck with your demands for a plan. >> right. >> with five weeks to go until the election, it will be interesting to see how they respond to hat. let's get right back to john berman. he's live in washington, d.c. he's getting ready for wednesday's debate coverage. he's got a look at our top stories this morning. good morning, again. >> good morning, soledad. a mystery unfolding in

unionville, tennessee, this morning. police searching for two missing siblings. a 9-year-old girl, and her 7-year-old brother. their grandparents were killed in a house fire last week. and it was initially believed the children died in the fire, as well. but their bodies have not been found. almost ten years to the day since the start of the d.c. sniper killing spree, we're now hearing a sign of remorse from prison. lee boyd malveaux is now 27 years old. he told "the washington post" he remembers each of the 13 people he and john allen mohammed shot in 2002. ten of them died. during the interview malvo described one searing image that stays with him. >> it was the worst sort of pain i have ever seen in my life. it's the worst words do not possess the depth in which to fully convey that emotion. and what i felt when i saw it.

you feel like the worst piece of scum on the planet. >> mohammed was executed in 2009 for the crimes. malvo is serving a life sentence without parole. now if you're looking for hard numbers and firm details in the romney/ryan tax plan, doesn't look like you're going to get them from the vice presidential nominee. the republicans claim the plan will lower all individual tax rates by 20%, and they're going to pay for them by targeting deductions and loopholes for top earners. but, listen to what happened when chris wallace of fox news pressed ryan for hard numbers. >> there's been a traditional democratic and republican consensus, lowering tax rates by broadening the tax base works. and you can -- >> but let me just ask you, you haven't given me the math. >> well, i don't have the -- it would take me too long to go through all of the math. >> all right the tax policies center in washington has studied the romney/ryan tax plan. they concluded that a tax cut of

that size simply will not work without adding a tax burden on the middle class for increasing the deficit. looks like we're going to have a rainy start to the week for much of the nation. quick check of the weather from rob marciano in atlanta. >> hi, john. storms across the southeast. that's part of the rainstorm. this is where we'll see the severe action, atlanta included. birmingham to huntsville, chattanooga. damaging winds and isolated tornadoes. a couple of tornado warnings across southern alabama. these storms continue to fill in and file off the gulf of mexico across the panhandle. the rain shield is pressing into the tennessee valley, and across the piedmont, and southern appalachians with this system. you're dry in the northeast at least for today. a little bit of rain tomorrow. cooler air coming down from canada. that's going to be the main weather story offer the next several days. the southwestern corner of the u.s. including so cal will be baking. up over 100 in some 1309s. 98 in l.a. 69 in chicago. 72 in new york. not too bad. october 1st.

john. good to see you wearing your obligatory orange tie. >> we coordinated this morning. thank you very much. good to see you, rob. out in california, the 405 freeway in los angeles is open to traffic this morning. the giant weekend repair project nicknamed carmageddon 2 wrapped up ahead of schedule opening up the ten mile stretch that was closed. people in los angeles will still complain about the traffic today. >> carmageddon. blah, blah, blah. >> only in l.a. freeways are a very personal thing. >> holly robinson pete was tweeting, this is the greatest day to drive on the freeway. there's no one here. we've got to take a short break. still ahead, the miracle of medinah or maybe the chicago collapse might be more fitting. [ male announcer ] does your prescription medication give you the burden of constipation?

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so it will go down in history as one of the most stunning collapses in all of sports. u.s. ryder cup team folding in epic fashion down the stretch at medinah yesterday after a 10-4 lead they literally had a melt down. shane o'donoghue is live from medinah with what exactly happened. walk us through it, shane. >> how are you, soledad? it was a comeback of monumental proportions by the european team. it had never been done before. america were leading 10-6 going into the final day's 12 singles matches. and it was expected to be a romp to a triumph for davis love and his american team. they had dominated over the first two days. but it was martin kaymer's putt on the 18th green yesterday against steve stricker which brought the cup back to europe. it was a shocking performance on the part of the americans. europe went out and won the first five matches yesterday,

and that really instilled a belief in the rest of the team. in the end, europe won 8 1/2 points out of a possible 12. for an improbable victory. there was a little bit of drama yesterday, as well, because rory mcilroy, as you know, is the world number one. but he had mistakenly looked at the time sheet, and saw that it was a tee off time for 12:25 p.m. so in actual fact that was eastern time instead of central time. so he was due at the course way before 11:25. but he didn't arrive until seven minutes before his tee time. eventually getting here courtesy of hitching a ride with a state trooper. but he managed to make it to the key, casually walked out onto the course and brought home a valuable point to the european team. but had he not made it here on time this would have been a totally different story. however there was a nice moment when the capital jose maria olazabal made a little presentation to him as they were celebrating a great win. >> rory, before we do anything i want to present you with this

wonderful clock. you make sure you get on time for the team next time, okay? >> okay. >> so you can see the time.okay? >> reporter: it was an incredible moment. it was an incredible day for europe. but very disappointing for a united states team. they lost on home soil. >> yep. disappointing in a word. thanks. suspicious voter registration forms found in nearly a dozen florida counties. just how serious is this? we're going to break that down coming up next. ante. and if you stumble, you get back up. up isn't easy, and we ought to know. we're in the business of up. everyday delta flies a quarter of million people while investing billions improving everything from booking to baggage claim. we're raising the bar on flying and tomorrow we will up it yet again.

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could it be acorn all over again? a voter registration controversy in florida where it appears a firm working for the republican party turned in falsified and illegible registration forms. republican party last week fired the contractor, strategic allied consulting, which is blaming rogue employees for the problem. lawrence norton is deputy director of the democracy program at nyu's brennan center for justice. he's an expert in voter registration laws. nice to have you with us. >> thank you. >> give me the scope of how serious these allegations are. this is a big deal or a little deal? >> first of all, i just want to give a brief explanation of what we're talking about here. we're not talking about people voting illegally that shouldn l. it shouldn't have any impact on the election. when you register, you fill out a form. provide a lot of information including personal information only you should have like your social security number, your driver's license number, birth date. so this is bad. it's illegal. it should be prosecuted and

there are a lot of reasons that it's problematic. but we have a system in place. there was a law that was passed in 2002 that's meant to catch these kinds of things when people provide information like their social security number. there's a data base when we process the forms that we check it against. >> if someone can register illegally, explain why they then wouldn't be able to vote illegally. >> we always hear stories about mary poppins or mickey mouse registering to vote. >> i think mickey mouse was one of the people. >> mickey mouse can't vote. he lives in florida. but he doesn't have a social security number. even in orlando, he doesn't actually have an address. so it's bad. it's bad because it undermines confidence in the elections. it's bad because right now election officials have a lot of work to do. this is the biggest election in american history. they have to process registration forms. they should be getting out ballots to military and overseas voters. and they have to set up their polling places. >> some people would compare this to a.c.o.r.n.

is it anywhere near the big standal that was a.c.o.r.n.? >> it's a similar thing that we're looking at in terms of what happened. at this point i don't know to what extent this has gone on throughout the state. you said there were now a dozen counties that are looking at this. so we'll see where it plays out. but the good news that i want to emphasize here is we have a system in place to catch these things. and it was caught. it's working. >> the a.c.o.r.n. was federally funded, too. that funding got cut off. there's a lack of analogy. the iron here, soledad, the republican led legislature in florida passed an anti-fraud, voter fraud bill in 2011 that makes it easier to track firms like this. i think that actually helped to ferret out this particular fraud. >> i do -- the ironic thing about that law is that it didn't do -- it actually didn't really address what happened here. this was still able to happen. what it did do, unfortunately, it shut down legitimate

registration groups. >> what was the provision that made it tougher to register? there there were a couple of things. one, it required registration forms had to get into the election office within two days. which is -- if it didn't get in within two days groups like the league were heavily fined. the league said, this is impossible for us to do this, could actually shut us down. and they stopped -- they stopped registering voters for many months. the brennan center in full disclosure represented the league in that lawsuit and won. they're now registering voters again. but in the meantime, again, this is a legitimate group doing legitimate registration, tens of thousands of people weren't registered that might have been. >> we'll see where this takes us. right now they're saying it looks like it was a rogue employee and people just writing things in. i guess they get paid for the number of people they can register. although it seems like it would be bigger than one. because obviously it's now across a dozen counties. there's somewhere in between one rogue employee and maybe out and out -- we'll have to see where that goes. thank you for talking with us, lawrence. appreciate your time. got to take a short break. "starting point" is back right

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morning. welcome, everybody. our "starting point" this morning, debate showdown. president obama and mitt romney preparing to face off. each down playing expectations. why the first debate may be the most important of them all. mixed messages. white house officials insist president obama has always treated the libya attack on the u.s. consulate as a terrorist attack. republicans say that is just not the case. swrts nchwarzenegger's secr. bodybuilder turned movie star turned politician, around schwarzenegger, opens up about the affair with his housekeeper and admits this was one in a fairly long list of lies. a packed show. republican congressman ted poe of texas is our gift. adam schiff. sheryl wudunn and nicolas christoff. it's monday, october 1st.

"starting point" begins right "starting point" begins right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good morning, welcome everybody. our team with us this morning. a writer for new yorker.com. ron brownstein . and kellyanne conway. i think for the first time. >> yes. >> nice to have you with us. you all had a good weekend? >> kelly and i, we've been on tv together before. we've had quite the time. couple of fun times together. >> i'm glad i put you together this morning, then. >> "starting point" this morning, two days, can you believe it? two days till the first presidential debate. both sides have been working very hard to lower the expectations for exactly how they're going to do. seems like somebody forfwot got tell new jersey governor chris christie, he's been setting the bar pretty high. >> he's had a tough couple of weeks. i'm not going to come on here

and sugar coat the last couple weeks. they've been tough. here's the great news for republicans p. we have a candidate who's going to do extraordinarily well on wednesday night. he's going to contrast his view with the president's record, the president's view for the future. this whole race is going to be turned upsidedown come thursday morning. wednesday night's the restart of this campaign. i think you'll see the numbers start to move right back in the other direction. i have absolute confidence when we get to thursday morning, george, you're going to be shaking your head saying it's a brand-new race. >> that was pretty much a tour through the sunday morning talk circuit. let's get to republican congressman from texas ted poe. nice to see you again, sir. thank you for talking with us zbr good morning, soledad. >> seems to me chris christie didn't get the message. everybody else has been working on both sides to try to lower expectations for both men. and now chris christie's like, we're going to win this one. do you think that's a mistake? >> no, i don't. the expectations are most americans believe president obama's going to win the debates. that's why it's a great opportunity for governor romney

to have an upset. he needs an upset. i think that he can do that on this debate and the next two debates. we go back historically, we remember it was a game changer when president kennedy debated richard nixon. same was true with ronald reagan when he debated jimmy carter. it can make a difference. mitt romney needs to come out and be very aggressive about the president's policies and his solutions. and i think he will do real good. >> we know they've been rehearsing zingers or we're told by a "new york times" report this morning that mitt romney has been practicing zingers. i guess practicing them on some of his aides as well. you just talked about substance. others have been focusing on, well, really it's the moments and the zingers that make the difference. which do you think it is? >> there has to be a sense throughout -- at the end of the debate, the viewer will have a sense as to who can be the better leader for the united states. and mitt romney has to come

across as, well, he can do a better job leading the united states on domestic policies. so it's an impression that the viewer will get overall. it will be the zingers. but it will be really the impression. who can create the better impression of leadership and that person will win the debate. >> i must say, it was really something to hear some anonymous spokesperson say that governor romney had been rehearsing the spontaneous moments that they were going to do. >> i'm sure he's not the first politician -- let me ask congressman poe, do politicians do that in general ? i have to imagine all politicians rehearse the spontaneous moments. am i right or am i wrong? >> yes, of course. i think most people in a speech have a one-liner, so to speak. they wait for the right time to use the one-liner. you never know when it'll come up. >> congressman, a thought here. mitt romney spent two years making the case against president obama's first term. three days of a national

convention and acceptance speech to do so. is this a question of simply restating the arguments he's already made for larger audience, or does he have to take this debate in a new place, in a new direction? >> i think the debate is really the game changer for governor romney. he needs to do very well. i think he will do very well. and it's all in how he communicates his message. i think he will do a better job than he has in the last two years of communicating that message. >> what makes you say that? i'm curious about the -- >> we know he's capable of it. he took it to newt gingrich, the best debater. >> let me finish my point. then you're welcome to -- for two years he's been trying to hone this message at a time when i think as a big surprise to a lot of people the president's doing better on the economy than he probably deserves to be doing. >> even in the polling. >> what makes you think in a high pressure environment, his first presidential debate he's actually going to deliver? >> it's the first time he's able to take the case right to the guy he's opposing. it's the first time -- and i believe president obama's style

is to sort of look out to the audience and the questioner and us at home. i believe mitt romney needs to turn to president obama the way he did to newt gingrich in florida. mitt romney was on fire in that one debate. he really took it to newt. he was relentless. i was newt's senior adviser at the time. it was very unexpected. we know he's capable of it. >> if you're a romney supporter, you've got to believe this, right? because the race is slipping away from him. you got to believe he can have -- >> it's 49%/47%. >> that poll isn't right. >> oh, kryou don't like that po. >> if you're a romney supporter you've got to believe this could be the moment. i just think this image of romney going up to people randomly and saying things like, you know, are you better off than you were four years ago -- >> i'm not going to separate the two of them. i take it back. i take it back. >> to me that's the core question. >> just a moment ago i was saying i was so happy to have you sitting next to each other. save me. >> that's the core of the question of the debate.

romney has spent two years trying to make the case president obama's first term is a failure. republicans by and large i think have come to a realization they cannot beat him solely on that argument. in our poll, a third of the country says we're worse off than we were four years ago. therefore romney -- a third says they're no better. obama is winning among those no better by 20 points. which means romney is ultimately failing people who are ambivalent about obama. that was my question for him. romney has spent so much time trying to convince people the last four years are a failure. isn't the larger task for him in this debate to convince him that he would produce a better outcome over the next four years than the president? >> congressman? i'm not sure if you heard that with all of our infighting. he's like, are they done yet? i'll translate for you, sir. you heard what he said. which is you have to move away

from the economy's failing to this is what i'm going to do for you. >> yes. he has to create in the debate an image that he can do a better job overall as leader of the united states. that is his challenge. it's a bigger issue than specifics. it's how he's -- the impression that he gives after that debate, what the american viewer thinks and whether it's going to be an upset, whether he upsets the person that's in charge who's supposed to win the debate. remember, it is a debate. which means it's confrontatio l confrontational. we'll see how good he does on casting himself as a better leader overall in leading the the united states. he has to move to that direction in my opinion. and he will. >> congressman ted poe, nice to see you. that was great insight. you have to be great in the moment. you have to have some substance. you have to be able to be more presidential. you have to attack but not be too aggressive.

>> other than that, relax. >> don't look at your watch. >> president obama and mitt romney will face off as american voters have a chance to weigh their choice for the first presidential debate. it's going to be on wednesday night. watch it 7:00 p.m. eastern on cnn or cnn.com. john berman's got a look at some of the other stories making news. he's in d.c. getting ready for wednesday's debate coverage. good morning to you. >> good morning, soledad. a suicide attack in eastern afghanistan overnight kills 14 people. three of the victims were nato service members. the taliban is claiming responsibility. officials say the bomber targeted a joint patrol by nato and afghan security forces in coast city using a motorcycle packed with explosives. the attack comes amid a grim milestone, a day after two americans died. there have now been 2,000 u.s. military members killed in afghanistan. on the final day of the u.n. general assembly session, world leaders will hear from syria's foreign minister. he is expected to deliver a vigorous defense of president bashar al assad's handling of the crisis that has now engulfed syria for the past 18 months

and, of course, has spiralled into a civil war. the supreme court opened its new term this morning at 10:00. it is a big one. important cases the court may decide include affirmative action, same-sex marriage and voting rights. yesterday six of the nine justices attended the red mass at the roman catholic cathedral of st. matthew the apostle in washington held every year just before the start of the court's new session. we expect an announcement today about the mystery surrounding jimmy hoffa's remains. investigators are waiting for tests on mud and clay samples from a home in suburban detroit. they searched under a shed there on friday. you'll remember a tipster claims he saw what appeared to be a body being buried at that site the day after the former teamster's chief disappeared back in 1975. the super bowl champion new york giants are off to a shy start. i'm happy about that. they lost their second game of the season to a division rival on a 54-yard field goal attempt came up short. eagles won, 19-17. atlanta falcons are perfect at 4-0.

matt ryan booting a 40-yard field goal with just five seconds left giving atlanta a dramatic 30-28 comeback win over cam newton and the carolina panthers. and green bay against new orleans. green bay took a 28-27 fourth quarter lead when a blown call by the real refs almost cost green bay another game. the saints clearly fumbled this late kickoff. but officials missed it. green bay had no challenges left. the saints kept the ball. they went on to try a potential game winning field goal. but they missed. so the packers got their second win of the season and avoided another embarrassing loss. for the refs, that would be. a collapse for the ages. the united states ryder cup team, this was awful. the europeans roared back from a 10-4 deficit late saturday to stage a stunning 14 1/2 to 13 1/2 comeback win at medinah yesterday. martin kaymer sunk that pressure filled five-foot putt on the final hole to seal the victory. europe has now one 7 out of the

last 9 ryder cups. aside from the abject shame of losing, soledad, the worst part is we have to listen to piers morgan gloat about this for the next several days. >> that was the most depressing sports round-up that i've ever heard from you, john. starting with the giants losing. >> i have never seen john berman as outraged about anything in all the years i've known him as this ryder cup collapse. it's deeply morally offended him. no one does sideline frustration like tom coughlin. how expressive is that. >> e-a-g-l-e-s, eagles. brag rights in the big apple. i love it. >> john, thanks. this morning, arnold schwarzenegger. did you see his interview last night on "60 minutes"? answering questions about his failed marriage, his affairs, the fact that he was performing same-sex marriages while he was in office while publicly he was actually speaking out against them. we're going to hear a little bit of that interview straight ahead. stay with us. the pace of change is accelerating. the way we...

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welcome back to "starting point." a new tell-all book called "total recall" has everybody talking about arnold schwarzenegger's history of lying, which includes, of course, the big one. his affair with his housekeeper. schwarzenegger talked about it all with "60 minutes" last night. listen. >> i think it was the stupidest thing i've done in the whole relationship. >> it was the secret he kept from his wife, maria shriver, and the public, for years. >> it was terrible. i inflicted tremendous pain on maria and unbelievable pain on the kids. >> reporter: the most painful chapter from arnold schwarzenegger's new memoir, "total recall." the moment when he admitted to thriver that he had fathered a child behind her back with the

family's housekeeper. >> she then said, hey, i think that joseph is your kid. am i off here or not? i said you're absolutely correct. >> reporter: shriver confronted her husband about the affair in a counseling session the day after he left office in 2011. swr schwarzenegger admits she raised suspicions before but he hadn't been truthful. so you lied to her? >> yo can say that. >> bayana remained the couple's housekeeper, working for the woman she had betrayed. even after you realized it? >> mm-hmm. >> reporter: was that strange? >> very difficult. strange. i mean, everything else, whatever you want to call it. it's the best way i could handle it. >> reporter: schwarzenegger also writes of a quote, "hot affair"

with actress bridget neilson. he was already living with shriver at the time. she knew? >> yeah. >> reporter: so it's a recuring issue with you? >> i'm not perfect. >> reporter: affairs weren't the only secrets. schwarzenegger also admits he tried to hide open heart surgery from shriver and says he didn't tell her about his run for governor until days before he announced it. >> she started shaking. and she had tears in her eyes. i realized that i was stepping into something that was much deeper than just me running and her being a supportive wife. >> reporter: she ultimately gave up her journalism career to campaign with her husband. now years later, his time in office over, schwarzenegger says he'll always live with the regret of what he did to his family. >> that is something i will always look back and say, how could you have done that? >> we tried to get a response

from maria shriver about the "60 minutes" interview but her spokesman said there would be no comment. a couple of interesting points here. i spoke this morning to christopher john riley. editor of the speak easy blog for the "wall street journal." a couple of things he said. one of them, arnold schwarzenegger actually alludes to them getting back together again. what that means, who knows. in his mind he speaks of them getting back together again. when maria found out about that child it was during couples counseling. they were supposed to go to counseling in order for them to transition from him being a governor and going back into private life. the first question that she had that was asked was, is is this your child? i believe this is your child. >> it's as if she was waiting to ask that question. >> he even said the kid started to look like him as he got older and it became clear. >> he accomplished a lot of good things as governor. the big question this book begs, why write the book? he's already a multimillionaire. he's as famous as he's going to be. >> his launching his institute.

he's moving into a new phase. >> this helps with the launch of the institute. >> you got to answer the question. here's what i think. you have to answer the question. the way to do it is do your one media tour with the book. the next time you're doing whatever it is you're launching, you say i've already spoken about it. in fact, it's in my book. >> the book was a much softer explanation. the interview last night was devastating. at one point he says, yes, all this lying for me as worked for me. i got everything i wanted. then he says, it didn't work for the people around me. >> it took everybody -- collateral damage everywhere. he's going to be an actor. no one's going to care. >> nobody cares if a movie star lies, perhaps as you say. everybody expects a politician to lie. that's what he was. he played right into that. i thought one of the most devastating things he said, eye opening to me, he told maria shriver three days before he announced for governor he was going to do that. >> can you imagine? by the way, honey, i'm running

for governor. >> the l.a. times did that fabulous report on schwarzenegger's behavior on sets. she stood with him and was critical at that moment. >> gave up her career. >> that's the one voice that we don't hear, right? i suspect that we never will hear. >> he knows that. he knows he's got the one-way megaphone with this book. she's not going t comment. she's too gracious. >> never explain, never complain. still ahead on "starting point" ann romney revealing her one concern about her husband's ability to serve as president. did she say too much? it's today's tough call. plus, which stocks are far and away the biggest winners and losers this year? christine romans will join us to tell us where to put our money. we're back in a moment. l, but i'm still stubbed up. [ male announcer ] truth is, nyquil doesn't unstuff your nose. what? [ male announcer ] it doesn't have a decongestant. no way. [ male announcer ] sorry. alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms plus has a fast-acting decongestant to relieve your stuffy nose. thanks. [ male announcer ] you're welcome. that's the cold truth!

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welcome back. i'm christine romans. in today's "smart is the new rich" did you miss another great quarter for stocks? retail investors have been pulling money out of stocks for months now. if you did you miss add big move in the quarter. the dow, s&p 500, nasdaq posted strong gains. the nasdaq up nearly 18% so far this year. best sectors in the third quarter, energy, consumer discretiona discretionary, financials did well, banks, information technology, telecom services. some of that telecom rally is on the iphone. the biggest, most widely held stocks, loog at these. apple up 11%. exxon mobil up 6%. ge up 11% in the quarter. credit the fed. herculean federal reserve stimulus measures have money rushing into stocks. pushing interest rates to historic lows. stock investors, anyone refinancing a mortgage or shopping for a car loan, you're having a great quarter. had a great quarter. savers, you did not. national average interest rate

for a one-year cd, .3%. savings account, it's so little i'm not even going to read those numbers. they're so small. >> don't even bother. >> savers are really getting creamed. what's next for stocks? that's what everyone wants to know. >> how high can apple go? >> i don't know. some were disappointed, actually. thought they would have sold more of those iphones. up 64% on the year. what happens next for stock ovrs all? we got to get through the election. some there's a committee of stock pickers over at s&p who say just getting through the election could be good enough for stocks to go a little bit higher. >> thank you. our tough call this morning, ann romney, was she a little bit off message? listen to her response when cnn's nevada affiliate ktvn asked her what her concerns were about her husband being president. >> i have all the confidence in the world in his ability, in his decisiveness, in his leadership skills, in his understanding of the economy. my biggest concern, obviously, would just be for the -- his mental well-being.

>> how did you read that? >> what she said after that was she used the word emotional. which is i think what she meant the first time. she just meant, gosh, the barrage of criticism. that you don't just need the fire in your belly anymore. you need the fire in your throat. >> so many people are attacking that today. you know, the 47% thing i actually thought was not a misstatement. i do think she just framed it wrong. >> i think this is -- she's getting a rough deal on this. she's clearly just saying what she means is this is a hard job. this is my guy. i'm worried about him. >> part of the hard job is to help -- >> i can't understand why people are running with the ball on that. >> people run with the ball on everything. >> that, too. i hate politics. we end as we began. >> everybody is so skeptically and cynically presumes the worst in everybody's parsed words. i think that's problematic. >> how can you take a spouse, right? campaigning in a grueling campaign and take anything off that. >> everybody can't have it both

ways, soledad. make the guy more human. show his emotions. she says i'm worried about his emotional well-being. what did you mean? >> she comes across generally as very aauthentic. i think she's likable. this is really not kind of the way you'd want to say this. >> right. >> actually probably like obama. very even keeled. >> it's that question when you're in a job interview. what's your biggest weakness. she's forced in ta tv interview to say what is she worried about. still ahead on "starting point" both campaigns are trying to win friends and lower expectations in the days leading up to the first presidential debate. we'll talk to california democratic congressman adam schiff about that. you're watching "substantiating poin americans are always ready to work hard for a better future. since ameriprise financial was founded back in 1894, they've been committed to putting clients first. helping generations through tough times. good times.

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. let's open the channel to chats during commercial break. i like that. that's a sign of a good show. let's get started this morning john berman who's live in washington, d.c. he's getting ready for wednesday's debate coverage. he's got a look at the day's top stories for us, though, this morning. >> i feel so left out of the conversation out there. you have to fill me in on what i'm pliszing. a search is under way this morning for a brother and sister in unionville, tennessee. the 9-year-old girl and 7-year-old brother were presumed killed in a house fire that took the lives of their grandparents last week but their bodies have not been recovered. a statewide amber alert has been issued for them. a decade after the d.c. sniper shooting spree, a show of remorse from prison this morning. he's now 27. in a phone interview he told "the washington post" he remembers each of the 13 people he and john allen mohammed shot in 2002. ten of them died. during the interview malvo described one moment he says he will never forget. >> it is the worst sort of pain

i have ever seen in my life. his eyes. it's the worst words -- do not possess the depth in which to fully convey that emotion. and what i felt when i saw it. you see, like, the worst piece of scum on the planet. >> mohammed was executed in 2009 for the crimes. ma malvo is serving a life sentence without parole. according to to a study conducted by pennsylvania, the law's photo id requirement could exclude more than 750,000 people from voting. pennsylvania supreme court has ordered a judge to assess whether all eligible voters would be able to obtain the allowable forms of id. guess who would vote for president obama if he was able to cast a ballot in november? venezuelan president hugo

chavez. he calmed preside called preside a good guy. chavez says he would like to transition to normal relations with the u.s. he is up for re-election next sunday. soledad, not exactly a coveted endorsement there. the hugo chavez primary now won by president obama. >> he's got his own election. >> he does. john, thank you. this morning both presidential candidates are preparing for the first of three debates with their campaigns. the debate, of course, happening on wednesday, the first one. each debate has a topic. wednesday's topic is the economy and domestic policy. mitt romney also looking ahead, though, to the final debate which will focus on foreign policy. there's word this morning that he's going to give a major foreign policy speech soon after that first debate. representative adam schiff is a democrat from california. he's also a member of the appropriations committee and a senior member of the intelligence committee. nice to have you, sir. thank you for being with us this morning. i want to start -- >> thank you. great to be with you. >> appreciate that. i want to start by focusing you on mitt romney's op-ed which focuses on libya. he writes this.

the arab spring presented an opportunity to help move millions of people from oppression to freedom. but it also presented grave risks. we needed a strategy for success, but the president offered none. now he seeks to downplay the significance of the calamities of the past few weeks. how devastating do you think is, consering all the focus that has been on libya over the last week, how devastating do you think this is for the president? >> well, i don't think it's devastating for the president. it's certainly devastating to all of us to lose an ambassador. that's a real injury to the country. that's not a political issue. i think the president has established real credibility and strength on national security. americans trust this president for good reason. he's made some. >> reporter: tou-- he's demonstrated he'll go to any ends to bring to justice those responsible for killing americans. he's a determined leader respected around the world.

we have a tendency i think sometimes to think that we can control all events around the globe. we wish that were the case. it's not. the president has said all along in terms of the arab spring that they were going to be, you know, serious challenges ahead in the near term and mid-term. but i share the conviction that i think in the long term this is a positive change that we're seeing these countries take responsibility and want to have their own representative democracy. >> i believe his political point in his op-ed, though, was less about we can't control what happened and more about in the week plus after benghazi, it was still very unclear exactly what happened. and as far as i can tell, it's taken a long time for people to be forthcoming about whether it was a terror attack and exactly the kind of specific security that the ambassador had. i mean, you know who's got a great timeline from september 27th is "the washington post." fantastic. they really, you know, september 11th it happens. by september 16th secretary rice's spokeswoman is still -- when she's asked, you don't

regard it as an act of terrorism, she's saying i don't think we know enough. i don't think we know enough. we know now they did know enough. within 24 hours there were notifications in fact this was terror. why has it taken so long? >> well, it is frustrating because we want to get to the bottom of it right away. in all of the intelligence briefings i have attended, intelligence officials were very careful to caution us that this was the best initial assessment. that they were still going to have to wait for a lot more information. and, you know, in our rush to get information, you know, we tend to discount those disclaimers. but the reality is, we are still gathering information. it's a difficult region. the main concern i have, frankly, is that we still may not have good access of our fbi agents and other investigators to the site. i don't think when you say there's been a long delay in being forthcoming, i don't think there's been a delay in being forthcoming. i think the administration has shared information the best that they had at the time. we continue to try to learn just what parts of this were spontaneous and what parts of this was preplanned.

was this a situation where al qaeda or al qaeda affiliated organizations and militias in libya were looking for the right opportunity and took it when it presented itself, or were the demonstrations themselves part of the planning? so we're still trying to get the answers to those questions. but, again, i think our ambassador, the intelligence community and others have been very careful to caution, look, we want to give you the information as we get it. but you have to know this could change because our information is still coming in. >> you know, what i don't understand about this story is there seems to be a suggestion in some of the discussion that there was somehow an ulterior motive on behalf of the administration to delay reporting on this. i don't understand, like, what would they possibly have to gain. >> that's an interesting -- >> read "the new york times," guys. they have tremendous amounts of gain. >> the accusation is there were threats of terrorism and they were insufficiently vigilant in responding to them. there would certainly be a motivation for downplaying the role of terrorism. >> i point everybody to "the

washington post" on september 27th. there's clearly a reluctance to use the "t" word of terror. a lot of whatever the opposite of reluctance, enthusiasm, to talk a little bit about this videotape, this anti-islam movie. i mean, that really -- >> i think the real question -- >> go ahead, sir. >> i think real question is not so much do we describe this as an act of terror. from my point of view, loiters at an embassy is an act of terror in and of itself. the question is how much planning, how spontaneous? did we have information that indicated we should have done more? those are very legitimate questions which, you know, not only the intelligence communities, but the panel set up with ambassador pickering will get to the bottom of. i think the most important point is how much planning went into this. whether we call it terrorism, it seems to me pretty self-apparent the minute you're shooting mortars at an embassy, that's an act of terror. >> representative adam schiff is a democrat from california.

nice to see you, sir. thank you for your time. a reminder you can watch complete coverage of the first presidential debate right here on cnn and cnn.com. it starts at 7:00 p.m. eastern on wednesday. of course, we'll have the complete debate postgame. i like the way we call it a postgame on "starting point" on thursday morning. coming up next, paul ryan. was he dodging the question? why the republican vp nominee refused to try to do the math to explain mitt romney's tax plan. also, what brought together a half dozen hollywood stars including meg ryan and america ferrera and olivia wilde? the movement behind the new documentary "half the sky." back in a moment.

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if you're digging around for details in the romney/ryan tax plan you might need a bigger shovel. when pressed in an interview on fox news the vp nominee says he doesn't have time to explain the numbers. here's what he said. >> there's been a traditional democrat and republican consensus that lowering the tax base by broadening the tax base works. you can. >> you haven't given me the math. >> i don't have the -- it would take me too long to go through all of the math. >> the tax policy center in washington has concluded one of the reasons it might take too long to go through the math is because it's mathematically impossible as they conclude for the romney/ryan tax plan to work without adding a tax burden on the middle class or bloating the deficit. i think any time you're saying on the air, by the way, the chris wallace's interview with him i thought was just a really excellent interview. any time you're talking about a tax plan and you say i don't have time to do the math for you? >> the tax policy center case is very specific and impeer cal. it says the cost of cutting tax

rates 20% for the people at the top exceeds the value of withdrawing every deduction they're now available for except for the reduced rates for capital gains which he says he doesn't want to touch. the response for that from the romney campaign is largely the same. growth would change the dynamic scores that's been a debate in washington for 30 years. that's where ryan did not want to go. >> i think what paul -- >> clinton had that great line about arithmetic. that was it. where's the arithmetic. i'll bet you they'll have today where's the math. >> hold on. all he's really saying is you can't put it in a sound bite. >> no. that's not what he's saying. >> he should have said here's the quick math. if you want to know more, here's the website. >> there's no quick math. that's ron's point. there is no quick math. >> unless you're saying their math doesn't add up -- the republican argument largely is about growth. it's about extending down the deductions that you would -- that you would eliminate in terms of down the income ladder. where the tax policy is is very clear, very specific, there are

not enough deductions to offset the cost. we have not seen that specific argument rebutted. >> it's not just i don't have time to give you the math. it's a debate -- >> they should talk about math, soledad. they should talk about the employment rate, deficit spiralling. >> we're not doing republican talking points. we're doing one specific thing on the taxes. i think that particular narrow focus is going to be problematic if they cannot articulate an answer to it. when people hear taxes they say i need details. because i pay taxes. i want to know exactly what's going to happen if you're elected. i speak for america. no. but i certainly speak for myself and paying taxes. that's what i want to know. >> speaking only for soledad o b bri yen. they're the kind of experiences you'd assume nobody could survive. young woman sold into sexual slifry. the young women are fighting back. [ male announcer ] extreme environments can cause a spontaneous change in dna,

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welcome back to "starting point," everyone. a couple stories you cannot miss this morning. we're going a little bit highbrow on you right now. assault charges have been dropped against the man accused of choking wie ining lindsay lo cell phone pictures. she told police she and a congressional aide fought in a hotel room after she took away his phone. sfwlnchts this a gross one. for justin bieber the show must go on. he threw up twice during the kickoff of his national tour. the biebs just kept on performing afterward he tweeted a line from the movie "anchor man." milk was a bad choice. nice picture for this morning. >> stop with the pictures. >> stop it now. >> stop.

morning time. breakfast time. all right, john, thank you. a popular best-seller is now a powerful documentary. it's in its 25th printing. "half the sky" explores some unimaginable horrors and challenges facing wm around the world. it's been now turned into a two-part documentary which features celebrity meeting with survivors and also those who are trying to help. for example, here's olivia wilde in kenya. >> i thought, that's really what i want to do. i want to go and see things for myself. >> you've had the traffickers hold a gun to your head. >> joining us this morning, authors of the book. the documentary airs tonight on pbs and tomorrow night as well. the book is amazing. i know richard had a chance to see the documentary. he's been raving about it for the last several days. >> so exciting to see this finally come to pass after all these years. >> when you're writing the book you talked about individual women's stories. sort of the horrors that they had to overcome. and sort of what input really helped them. "half the sky" we should mention

comes from women holding up half the sky. >> a chinese saying. >> exactly. tell me little bit about what you loved about your research in the book that made you think this needs to be a documentary. >> it really started many, many years ago when we were in china. and we had found out that there were some problems in the countryside with women. we had covered tian men square. we started discovering there were 30 million missing female girls, female babies, from the chinese population. which was a stunning number. >> 30 million. >> 30 million. partly through infanticide. partly through a lot of the chinese mothers abort female fetuses when they discover it's a female. still it was a huge number. we did a lot of reporting on that. we thought it was just china. and so this is -- china's a very big, comply cated country. we moved to japan. we started discovering a lot of discrimination against women there as well in japan and

korea. went to cambodia and discovered sex trafficking. we thought this was just asia. >> you realize it's the globe. >> exactly. >> what made you focus on these women's stories? in the book what was the story that was the most moving to you? >> i think what we found is that there's so many problems. there's no silver bullet. but maybe the best leverage you have to address all these problems is to educate girls, bring those educated women into the formal labor force. there were so many heroic women around the world who we saw. and we wanted to be able -- what we have essentially is a little spotlight. we want to be able to spotlight those. there's so many americans who would like to engage in this issue but they're worried about corruption. they're worried about ineffectiveness. if we can connect those well-meaning americans with all these extraordinary, heroic people out there, that's an incredible service. >> it was incredible journalism. i think your column has reinvented the forum. an incredible path breaking in genre. when you look at these societies, what differentiates

the societies where opportunity has expanded for women and where these issues are being dealt with from those who don't. >> it's exactly what nick was saying earlier. it's education. then also giving opportunity to women on the job front. jobs and education. what we care about here. >> education. educating girls is incredibly powerful. >> what causes society to choose to do that as opposed to those who don't. >> they have to recognize it's important. look at what happened to kmi ch. they said everybody could get educated including the girls. then they said everybody can go into the work force includie ii women. >> what was stunning to me was the small amount of help that can change a life story. >> just buying a school uniform for a girl costs about $15. it will dramatically increase the chance she is going to stay in school for the next few years which reduces the fact she's going to get hiv which will give her more capacity to generate income, support her family. >> less likely to have children early. >> since you started this how

much is social media helping? are they getting their stories out in a more powerful -- >> we can't get as much of a full story out as you can in a documentary. >> start the conversation. >> twitter and facebook, people have been incredibly supportive spreading the word about the documentary. >> it airs tonight and tomorrow on pbs. it's called "half the sky." nice to have you with us. we certainly appreciate it. got to take a short break. stay with us. if you are one of the millions of men who have used androgel 1%, there's big news. presenting androgel 1.62%.

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i was very happy to hear my colleagues talk about math being a more important subject than biology or chemistry. we constantly hear you have to be likable and connect with women. i think this race will come down to a couple million women in some swing states, probably fewer than that now conte